The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has awarded last Saturday's Big Game to Stanford the Daily Californian was told late last night.

The 85th Big Game originally a 25-20 Cal win, thus will go down in NCAA record books as a 20-19 victory for Stanford, who, like Cal will now finish their season at 6-5.

In an unprecedented and sure-to-be-controversial decision, a special NCAA panel, invoking a rarely used amendment to its bylaws ruled yesterday that Dwight Warner, a Golden Bear freshman involved in the unbelievable five-lateral kickoff return at the end of regulation play at Memorial Stadium, was in fact downed by Stanford defenders at their 45 yard line as the clock ran out.

The commission also found many other irregularities in the play, paralleling those announced by the Pacific-10 Conference yesterday. Although the PAC-l0 stated that the final score of the game would not be changed, the NCAA overruled the statement, handing the victory to Stanford.

With four seconds left in the game, Stanford place-kicker Mark Harmon booted a 35-yard field goal to give the Cardinal a one-point edge, culminating a Cardinal comeback that saw it trailing 10-0 at the half.

And so, three days after the Bears' epic play thrilled its fans and startled a watching nation, a committee sitting in New York has ruled the touchdown invalid and awarded the win to Stanford, 20-19.

"Damn it," said Richard Dwyers, the NCAA's chief operating officer, "I've watched that replay a thousand times and if that guy wasn't downed my first name isn't Richard. I put our appeals panel on the case early Sunday

It was this picture, taken by photographer Art Ray, that persuaded the NCAA to reverse the outcome of last Saturday's Big Game against Stanford. In it, a referee partially obscured by Cal and Stanford players is signalling the play dead (1) while Kevin Moen of the Golden Bears runs

with the ball toward the Stanford end zone (2). Moen received a final block (3) as Stanford band members tried to avoid the play (4). The NCAA determined that the play was blown dead before this point and awarded the game to Stanford by the score of 20-19

morning at the request of Stanford officials, who sent a telegram to my home in New York about 8 o'clock (EST) Saturday night.

"When the committee reported back to me yesterday (Tuesday) that to a man (There are five athletic directors on call for just such an occasion, although this is the first time they've ever been called) they felt that Head Referee Charles Moffett and his crew had blown the call badly, I set the machinery in motion to award the game to Stanford . "

Berkeley Athletic Director Dave Maggard obviously was displeased

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Bears shocked, appalled

By ANDY ALLMAN
Staff Writer

Officials and players reacted to last nights decision by the NCAA with a mixture of shock and anger.

California Athletic Director Dave Maggard was probably the most poignant.

"Frankly I'm shocked and dismayed," he said late last night. "I know this has got to be a terrible blow both to the team and the fans who have supported the squad all season . "

Maggard went on to say that he will fight the decision tooth and nail although he was not exactly sure what recourse was open to appeal the decision.

"This ruling has no precedent," Maggard said. "Right now I'm not exactly sure what options we have open to us."

California players contacted last night thought the ruling was unfair with one player exclaiming: "This can't really be happening."

Although the Bears did not receive a bowl bid, the loss drops their record to 6-5 and certainly puts a damper on one of its most exciting seasons.

Cal receiver Mariet Ford, who made an outstanding (and controversial) catch in the end zone for the Bear's first score and played well all game long, was disappointed and angry at the decision.

"They can t take something like this away from us," he said. 'When a game is over, it's over. That's all there is to it.

"What really burns me up is that that a group of people back in New York who weren't even there, have the authority to call this game. It just isn't fair."

Other players were even more to the point. Kevin Moen, who scored the final touchdown called yesterday's decision "a sad moment in college athletics.

"We know we won the game," he said. "There's no way they (Stanford) are going to take the game from us. We won it fair and

square.''

After the game, Moen was questioned about the touchdown and he said he didn't even know he scored. Last night, however, Moen said that there was no question that the run was fair.

"I've looked at the replays now, I don't know how many times," Moon said. "There's no question that I was in."

The decision by the NCAA claimed that running back Dwight Garner's forward motion was stopped. When contacted by the Californian last night, Garner denied that his knee hit the ground or that his motion was in any way stopped.

Many of the Cal players will not hear about the decision till this morning and one player, quarterback Gale Gilbert, wishes he had been one of them.

"At least I'd he able to sleep tonight," he said when told about the decision. '1 can't describe how I feel right now. Lousy just doesn't quite make it."

Even players who did not see action in the game felt the hurt just as much. Reserve quarterback Mike O'Donnel, a walk-on out of Bellarmine Prep in San Jose, said that this was the worst moment in his football career. "Even when I lost in the playoffs in high school (my junior year), it didn't feel this bad.

"I really feel bad for the seniors. This was their last Big Game. What a horrible way to lose."

Decision stuns Joe Kapp

By DREW DICBY
Staff Writer

The phone rang a dozen times before a weary Joe Kapp answered it.

"Hello," he said, stir obviously in the throes of sleep. But what might have been a sweet dream before quickly became a nightmare as Kapp heard for the first time of the NCAA's decision to reverse the outcome of Saturday's Big Game

All the shocked Kapp could muster was a slow, shocked "Oh my God, oh my God." One could almost see the tears brimming in his eyes on the phone.

Then there was silence. A long silence, lasting upwards of

two minutes.

Joe Kapp, the grown man, the head football coach at Cal. and the leader of young men, was crying.

Between the sobs, Kapp began to form words that amounted to more than the two previous "Oh my Gods."

'This has to be the worst moment in my life," he said in a soft, hushed voice. "Why now, why me, why Cal, why Big (same, why in front of 77,666 fans in Memorial Stadium, . . . why did it have to happen to my boys? It's just not fair."

The weeping continued, though Kapp was gradually collecting himself now. The statements became louder, the